Has this been discussed? Engine bay sound pad Options

[rick 918-S]

I have decided to restore the Raspberry car as close to Concours as I can. I have an engine bay sound pad that is very nice. I mean really nice. One problem though. The pad is glued and held in place with plastic retainers. Over time, the pad holds moisture against the firewall and will cause rust. This actually happened to this car and the Ravenna car I have causing rust holes in the firewall. Here in MN we have cold wet winters and damp humid summers. It is very likely if I just do what the factory did to install the pad the process of rust will just start over.

My question is:

You guys that have completed a concours quality car must have thought about this. What have you done to prevent the creep of rust that starts behind the pad?

I'm working on a couple ideas that I think will work without causing the judges to freak out. I thought about trying bed liner. The stuff is near bullet proof in the bed of our Titan. I haven't even been able to scratch it. The glue that is used to secure the pad should not be able to penetrate the bed liner which is what I think is happening to the painted finish behind the pad. The glue will break down over time causing the loss of paint that it is stuck to. The moisture in the pad will start the rust process. The rest is history.

BTW: I would only be using this on the firewall and it will be completely hidden by the back pad. Cool? or Lame?

I also thought about thinning out some fibre glas resin with laquer thinner and carefully wetting the fiber that contacts the firewall. This way moisture would not be absorbed anymore. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) just thinkin out loud.